Brooks Brothers, Centenary, 1818-1918: Being a Short History of the Founding of Their Business ...

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Y '^'i/^.Q A 486076

i U53

Established
1818

3^tV YORK.
Brooks Bkothsrs

Maditon Avmut ar. Tetny'-fiuT^ Siwrf

iHMiuiiiiiiinf/iiiiiiLiipiiiyiiiiing

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bt Google

BROOKS BROTHERS
Established 1818

bt Google

Locations of Bkooo Biothem in New Youc, 1S1S-I91S

In iSji, wbcnthisniap waa drawn, there ma no iiuticatianor>buitdiag-8iCe

on the spot where the Fbdron Building now stands and Madison Avenue had

not been cut through north of 4Xnd Street

5v Google

ESTABLISHED ISIS

^tttenarg

1818-191

Seing a Short HISTORY of the Founding
of their Saj/Ww together with an Account
of its Different Locations in the City of
S^EW rORK^ during this period.

Printed for BROOKS BROTHERS,
Madison Avenue, cor. Forty-fourth Street,
at The Cheltenham Press, New York

by Google

BKOOKS BROTHERS
NEW YORK

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FOREWORD

IT is infrequent enough, in this country^ for a busi-
ness house to have completed a cycle of one
hundred years to ^varrant the commemoration of
its Centenary in this comparatively pennancnt form.
A kindly curiosity has often been manifested con-
cerning the history and traditions of the house of
Brooks Brothers which shows that many are under
a misapprehension concerning the real age and consti-
tution of the establishment and the authenticity of the
simple facts which link it in many ways with the his-
tory and development of the city in which it has grown
and prospered.

From time to time, various excerpts from the history
of the house have been published under its auspices,
but it seems that upon such an occasion as this, ret-
icence may be laid aside without offence to modesty,
T^d a brief survey be given of the business career of
1° Brooks Brothers from its founding one hundred
> years ago to the present day.

I Such is the purpose of the little book which follows,
^ a book which, were our country not engaged in war,
^*mi^t have shown a gayer and more elaborate dress.
'ssj This time, however, is not one for display, nor on
'X the other hand can we believe that it is a time for the
or^ entire suppression of just pride in an honorable
X achievement.

421939 „^,c.oogie

BROOKS BROTHERS

That it is an achievement to have completed one
hundred years of upright, well-rewarded merchandis-
ing; for a family to have built up, maintained and re-
tained control for four generations of a business such
as this, few, we thinlc, will deny.

Some of the aspects of this century of effort have a
connection intimate with the growth of our country
and city and these we trust will be in a measure inter-
esting to our customers, and to others into whose
hands this little book may fall.

byGooglc

Established 1818

TOWARD the dose of the eighteenth century.
Dr. David Brooks, a physician, born inStratford,
Connecticut, in 1 747, came to New York and
took up his residence on the northwest corner of
Catharine and Cherry Streets. In 1795, after several
years of practice, this gentleman succumbed to yellow
fever, and some years later his elder son, Henry Sands
Brooks, born in 1772, opened a clothing store on the
site shown on our map of the city (frontispiece).

There is reason to believe that at one time Henry's
younger brother, David, was associated with him
and certainly David was later in the clothing business
on his own account. It would seem, however, that the
two parted company before the date given for the
founding of Brooks Brothers' business. This date,
taken from the first day-book of Henry S, Brooks,
Merchant, and still in the possession of his grand-
sons, is that which gives to this little book its title,
Established 1818.

t7l

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Thi Fiut Twq Pages or the Day CxAiiaE Bdoe or Hihsy S. Bsook)
Sbowine the first tmiy, ApiU 7tb, i3iS

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ESTABLISHED iSiB

At all events, that is the date of the founding of the
house which can be traced directly as one and the same
concern and which still operates, one hundred years
later, in the same business and has continuously since
the date of the first entry in the old day-book reproduced
on page 8. From this same book, we learn that the
original outlay for ground and building was as follows:

1818 Cost of ground and building cor. Cherry

and Catharine Streets f ' 5.*

March 20 Cash paid Alford LocKwooD i,c
April 14 Cash paid James Lyon i

May 9 Cash DO do do i

23 Cash DO DO DO I

•' 25 Cash DO Thompson Price

$

6,630

00

Paid C. Clark

30

00

Cash for earring and nails

30

00

DO DO boards

23

00

David T. Grenack

4»

Mann & Bull

39

78

John Frain

47

92

Job Furman

53

82

Steven Kincsland

37

i?

$

6,903

43

Cash paid James Ltov

S9

70

W. S. LOWERY Bill

49

32

^17,01

95

During this entire century which has seen so many

changes and improvements in the city of New York,

from the days when it was a town of 100,000 inhab-

[9]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

itants in a country politically less than half a century
old, to the present day when it bids fair to become the
most important in the world, the business of Brooks
Brothers has gone steadily on with the development
of the city, always informed with the same spirit, the
same general policy that animated its founder, that of
dignified, courteous service to those who sought the best.
It is unfortunate that no authentic picture of Henry
S, Brooks's store, as it appeared in i8i8,has been pre-
served. Instead we reproduce from Valentine's Manual
a print showing the store in 1845 and a brief account
of the business taken from the same source.

Brooks' CloTbiwg Siobi, CAMAHiNt Street

"About 1810, James Drake, David Logan, John
Vansicklen, Samuel Thompson, and some others, com-
menced the clothing business in the vicinity of Catharine
Market, Henry S. Brooks, in iSiy-iSiS^in the
[10]

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ESTABLISHED iBig

days when that fine specimen of an alderman, Geoi^
Buckmeister, wore his cue ia the board — opened his
store, as shown by the print, on the comer of Catharine
Street, which was, in 184;, replaced by the present
building. At one period, just previous to 1 830, Cheny
Street, from James to Market, was the great centre of
the clothing trade, and here some of the first wholesale
houses were establbbed. Conspicuous among them was
Henry Robinson (with whom was at onetime associated
Joseph Hoxie), George Opdyte, our late Mayor, John
J. Cisco, present Assistant Sub-treasurer of the United
States m New York, Robert T. Haws, late Comptroller
of the city, were all at one time in the clothing business
in Cherry Street; besides a number of others who were
carried by the tide of improvements to other parts of the
city and country. ... It calls back vividly old times
to look upon the print which represents one of the great
landmarks of Catharine Street a generation ago. What
a tide passed through that narrow street in those days,
hurrying to the horse-boats, hurrying to market, hurry-
ing to the shops. And rising upon the wave, emerging
like the Mariners in Virgil, here and there, some head
which has become famous in one or other of the thou-
sand channels of enterprise which New York and its
citizens cut deeper, open wider, and follow with more
vigor than any other people in the world. ..."
By 1845 the store had been, conceivably, enlarged
and added to since its original opening and a flourishing
business was being done under the name of H. & D.
H. Brooks & Co. Henry S. Brooks, the founder,
["]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

had died in 1833, after having
taken into the business with him
Henry, the eldest of his sons
who survived infancy, and
Daniel H., his next son.

A very interesting period
was this first quarter-century
of the store's business. Catha-
rine and Cherry Streets were
among the main business thor-
oughfares of the town as then
constituted, though maintaining
somewhat of their residential
character.

'818 Longworth's Directory of

1828-29 shows us that Henry S. Brooks, whose two
business addresses were So and 116 Cherry Street,
had his residence at 159, while his mother lived at 97
Catharine Street and his brother David at 148 Cherry.
From another early source we learn that "the prin-
cipal shipyards were also at that time located in the
neighborhood, including those of the Ficketts, Mr.
Bergh, Mr. Henry Eckford, etc. The Brooklyn ferry-
boats were in those days propelled exclusively by horse-
power. Franklin Square was the most fashionable
quarter of the metropolis. The illustrious Governor De
Witt Clinton resided in the vicinity; and opposite the
time-honored warehouse of the Brooks Brothers in

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ESTABLISHED iSig

Cherry Street, stiU stands {1857) ^ ™w °^ buildings
once known as Quality Row, and for many years
chiefly occupied by the most eminent lawyers of this
city."

In those days the business was not confined to
retail selling as it now is and there was also a great
trade among the sea-faring men who frequented that
portion of the city. Tradition has it that the custom
of merchants was, when an able seaman purchased an
outfit, to regale him with a draught from the black
bottle kept for this purpose beneath the counter.
Whether this custom was honored by observance in
the estabhshment with whose history we are now con-
cerned there is no sure means of knowing. We may
feel reasonably certain, however, that when a ship's
master came in and bought a sturdy broadcloth coat,
a nankeen vest and pantaloons of cassimere, the whole
was wrapped up for him in a black silk kerchief for
which no charge appeared upon the bill.

Men's dress in these years from 1818 to the death
of the founder of Brooks Brothers in 1833 may
best be visualized by a study of the reproduction of an
English print of 1825 on page 14. London, then as
later, was the fountainhead of fashion in men's
clothing and this may be taken as fairly representative
of the various styles seen in New York during the
twenties and early thirties.

Again we quote entries in the old day-book showing

['3]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

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ESTABLISHED iSiB

charges against customers for various items of clothing
and in some cases charges against other merchants,
presumably tailors, for materials such as linings, but-
tons, cioth, etc.

It is interesting to note that the accounts were kept
in pounds, shillings and pence, but this does not mean
the pound sterling, now valued at $4.86^ par, nor
the English pound steriing of those days, the par value
of which was 24.44. The unit was a pound "cur-
rency" which was 20 shillings, eight of which made
one dollar. In other words, two shillings were worth
25c, and a pound $ 2.50. This method of accounting

probably

obtained until some time in the thirt

es

Daniel Merrett, Dr.

1818

of Hows Neck

April 7th

Cash lent

£

IWay 9th

Philip L. Reeves, Dr.

Bailance due on suit

£

I

4

Cr By C»sh

_i

£

7

+■

~o

Daniel Banks, Dr.

Coal and Pantaloons

£

Q

Q

Q

Vest

1

2.

Augustus H. Sands, Dr

Sundries due

£

iz:

May 30

8i3

Pair Pantaloons

Charles S Hamburg

I Coatee for an Apprentice

£

4:
3;

8

October 2

, I8i8

Benjamin Andrews

.2 yds. Casimeer, zo/-

£

z:

0:

29 ■' " 14/-

0;

6:

29K" " "V-

7-

4-

J

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November 5,
October a 6, I

BROOKS BROTHERS

Caft. Barnum

One round Jacketc for si

Remnani

Buttons

2i^ Casimeer C

2j^ yds, blue cloth

2 yds. mixed cloths 40/—

Cutting 2 coats

December 7, 1818
December 17, i8ii
July 17, 1819

July 19, 1819
July 23, 1819

z yds. linning

2/6

°- 4= °

£ i: S: o

12: 9

2: 9: 6

y. o: o

+ : o; o

0= 4- °

£13:16: 3

o: C: o

Henry Trvok, Or.
Oae round jacket
'- Mr, Peter Valentine
to I Peacoat ^7.00

Eben Knapp, Dr.

(for J. Clark)
Vest, pantaloons, hanks
and stockings
Mr, Dav
I round Jacket

Charles Die:
I Pair nankin pant
I Pair pantaloons
to Making Vests &
Pantaloons

The second quaner-century of the business saw the
death of Henry Brooks, the eldest son of the founder,

1.6]

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ESTABLISHED i

Two MoKB Pack from the Day Chabg

and the control passed into the hands of four younger
brothers, Daniel H., John, Elisha, and Edward S.
Brooks.

[■7]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

A bill-head of 1854, facsimiled above, shows that
the firm name had recently been changed from H. &
D. H. Brooks & Co. to Brooks Brothers and it

has so remained ever since.

Cathabinb Maukst, N. Y., ig;o

View ftom che font windows of Bbooks Bboth.rs' Cheny Street store

sliortly before their removal Co Broadway and Grand Street

In 1859, in "Carroll's New York City Directory,"
appeared the first advertisement of the firm of which
we now have a record. This was descriptive of the store
then recently opened at Broadway and Grand Street.

[i3]

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ESTABLISHED iSl8

-^Jzi^f'

BROOKS BROS.

Clothing Merchants

464, 466 and 46S Broadway, New YoiJt

Brooks Bros, call che attention of" visitors to New York and
the trade, to their large and complete assortment of Ready-
made Clothing and Furnishing Goods of superior style and make.

Our Custom Department will at all times be found complete
in stock, and variety of piece goods, imported expressly for our
trade, coijMsting of French, English and German Cloths, Cassi-
meres. Doeskins, rich Velvet, Silk, Satin and every new style
of cloths, etc, of the finest quality, which will be made to
order in the best manner and most fashionable mode.

Our House of Forty Years' reputation, the first to embark
in that which is now a leading commercial pursuit, from ex-
perience can guarantee superior goods — the best of work — at
prices which have ever characterized our establishment.

Strangers are invited to visit our New Building, which is the
most eiienMve and magnificent Clothing House on either con-
tinent. Our Custom Department claims particular attention,
being a Circular Room lit from a dome 68 feet high, and
finished in a superior style of art.

464, 466 and 468 Broadway and 1 16 Cherry St.

Note: — We refer all visitors to Mr. Sands, who will see
that all are properly served. The reputation of the above house
it a sufficient guarantee for goods purchased. — EJi/or.
[-9]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Broadway bitween Howard and Gband Streets in 1840
The location of Bjooks Bhothkbs' store was that occupied by the Broadway
House at the left of the print. At the right was the fsmous "Tatterealll"

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£STABUSH£D iSig

It is not witfiout significance that there has been
]ittle change in the manner and style of the pubHcly
printed advertisements of the house from that day to
this; nor is that lack of change to be ascribed to the
fact that all advertising in the middle of the nineteenth
century was like BROOKS Brothers' and that theirs
alone has failed to change. Here, for example, from
the same issue of Carroll's Directory is the advertise-
ment of another clothing house in the city, which for
"punch" and "direct appeal" to buy might not be re-
garded as out of the running by some of our progres-
sive advertisers of the present day.

.... & BROTHERS

Clothing Merchant!
....... and .. . FultoD Street

New York

Ttose mansions of marble, oh say if thou fenowest

O'er which the gay standard of Fashion's un&irled.
Where the welcome is warm and the prices are lowest.

And the clothes are the cheapest and best in the world;
If not — fiy at once, to ... . Brothers betake you.

They best can assist you to bear out your plan.
For they either have got or will speedily make you.

The best suit of clothes ever seen upon man.
We also reproduce, in exact miniature, another ad-
vertisement, printed in 1859, in the book commem-
orating the laying of the Atlantic Cable by the Great
Eastern. It will readily be noted how little change
in style of typography, as well as of wording, has
come about in Brooks Brothers' advertisements in
more than half a century.

["1

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BROOKS BROTHERS

CLOTHING HOUSE

IROOKS BROTHERS,

BROADWAY. comH of Grand Street.

CHERRY, corner of Catherine Street. Nb" Yobk.

Men's, Youths' and Children's Clothing,
ready made and '

If, however, the dress of printed matter has under-
gone no great change, hardly the same can be said of
the dress of man.

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ESTABLISHED iSi8

During the stirring days of the Civil War, Messrs.
Daniel H., EHsha, John and Edward S. Brooks held
sway over the destinies of the business, while asso-
ciated with them were Charles F. Goodhue and James
A. Bishop, That times were indeed troublous for them
as for others may be gathered from the two pictures,
from Harper's and Leslie's Weeklies of August i,
1863 (page 24), which depict the sacking of the
Catharine and Cherry Street store during the draft riots.
The two papers gave the following accounts of this
circumstance, while from Valentine's Manual of 1864
we reprint the third quotation.

From Harper's Weekly, August i, 1863
"ATTACK UPON THE CLOTHING -STORE OF
MESSRS. BROOKS BROTHERS

"From the first of the riot clothing appeared to be a
great desideratum among the roughs composing the mob.
On Monday evening a large number of marauders paid
a visit to the extensive clothing-store of Messrs, Brooks
Brothers, at the corner of Cadiarine and Cherry Streets.
Here they helped themselves to such articles as tbey
wanted, after which they might be seen dispersing in all
directions, laden with their ill-gotten booty."

From Frank Leilie'i Illustrated Weekly Newspaper,
August I, 1863

"The riot which began on Monday, July 1 3, con-
tinued with unabated fury till Thursday, the i6th,
[13I

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Sacking Bbooei' Ciothing Stobi
when the rebels were completely defeated in Second
Avenue by Captain Putnam. . , . Mayor Opdyke's
house and the Tribune officewere also attacked, Brooks's
clothing-slore plundered, negro dwelling-houses in all
parts piEaged, and many of the poor creatures murdered."

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ESTABLISHED 1818

From Valeniine's Manual, 1864

•*After the West began to develop itself, and the
grand canal was opened, business gradually worked its
way over to the vvest side of the town. With this
movement. Brooks Brothers, the present firm, the sons
and successors of Henry S. Brooks, and composed of
Daciel H. Brooks, John Brooks, Elisha Brooks and
Edward S, Brooks, participated so 6r as to establbh a
new store (co-operating with the one which is still con-
ducted by them on the spot established by their father)
of large proportions on the corner of Broadway and
Grand Street, Than this there is no iiner, and, we
beiieve, no larger, if there is so large, establishment of
the kind in the world. The Catharine street store was
sacKed by the mob in 1863, for which no reason has,
as far as we know, been assigned; for the Messrs.
Brooks are fair, upright gentlemen, of mild manners
and such simplicity of deportment as to allay and con-
ciliate rather than excite ill feeling in any with whom
tbey come into intercourse."
It is interesting to see, tn the lower of these pic-
tures, that Brooks Brothers' registered trade-mark,
a modification of the Golden Fleece, was even then
prominently displayed.

At the same time that the Catharine Street store
was being sacked, the rioters were burning and loot-
ing the Colored Orphan Asylum, then located at
Fifth Avenue, Forty-third and Forty-fourth Streets,
less than two blocks from Brooks Brothers' present
[«S]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Tfli Riot im N«w Yobk
le rioters burning and sacking the Colored Orphan Asylum. Thisbuilding
a situated just north of 4ind StiBet between Fiithand Sixth Avenues, only

location. Scenes of violence were common through-
out the city, and no one knew where the fury of the
mob would next burst fonh. What a contrast
between the tumult engendered by the draft of '63 and
the calm business-like procedure of the conscription
by selection of the present day ; notwithstanding the
fact that the men now drafted are going into a war a
thousandfold more bloody, more merciless and more
vast than even our Civil War.

The night after the attack on the Catharine Street
store, careful watch was kept and a guard was mounted
over Brooks Brothers' uptown store, opened in

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ESTABLISHED ill

S FuMEsAL Procession Paisinc Baooks Biothibi' Stou a
Bkoadway and Gkahd Strut
The store is Ihe one with the flag, at the nght

1857, at Broadway and Grand Street There is, in

the present <
then (m 1863) in the ■
He well remembers, as
uptown store throughoi
the corporatio

, onlj one man who was

mploy of Brooks Brothers.
a boy, keeping guard at the
t that night. As President of
mior member of the entire
organization, he forms a link between the Brooks
Brothers of the Civil War time and of today.

It was from this newer location at Broadway and

Grand Street that Brooks Brothers saw the funeral

cortege of Abraham Lincoln pass by, in 1865, the

store draped as shown in the picture on this page,

I»7]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

which is reproduced from an old print. Thus ended
the second quarter-century of the business.

CAtTATN U. S, N.

Just here it may not come amiss to speak of the
service of this house to the officers of the Army and
Navy throughout its one hundred years of activity.
From the character of the business done and of its
known early customers we may assume that not a
few of the veterans of the war of i8i2 and of the
participants in the Mexican War made use of its
facilities for obtaining uniforms, etc. During and
after the Civil War, it had many distinguished officers
of both arms of the service as patrons, among whom
were Generals Grant, Sheridan, Hooker and Sherman,

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ESTABLISHED

Omciiu or THi Un id S atei Armv
Battle of MoUno del K.ey Mexican War 184748

%,«%'

T»

"' v!W\fT

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Off ce» or tub Umitid Statu Navy
In the CitU War, 1861-6;

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ESTABLISHED iSiS

Omciits or T«i VnniD Stati! Na%
In the Spanish War, 1898

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BROOKS BROTHERS

It is also said that the coat worn by Lincoln on
the night of his assassination was made by Brooks
Brothers. At all events he was a regular customer
of the store.

A number of the patriotic and adventurous young
men who volunteered in our war with Spain were
also outfitted in this establishment, while for many
years the dress uniforms of New York's "Seventh"
Squadron "A," The First Corps Cadets of Boston,
etc., were the product of its workrooms. There have
always been officers in the graduating classes of
West Point and Annapolis who have been regular
and honored customers, both for military clothing
and for the formerly much-prized "cits" in which
the embryo soldier and sailor used to disport himself
when on leave. By them, as full-fledged officers in
ports and posts far removed from New York,
Brooks Brothers' reputation has been spread pretty
well around the globe. The house also during the
great vogue of military day school and boarding
school, which obtained some twenty years ago, was
the maker as well as in frequent instances the
designer of the uniforms worn by the cadets of the
various institutions.

The transition from the stately garb of the soldier

of the early nineteenth century to the workmanlike

khaki of today's service uniform may be traced in

the accompanying pictures.

f3'l

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ESTABLISHED 3iS

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BROOKS BROTHERS

The changes in the
naval uniform are not per-
haps so apparent to the
eye, deijpite the changed
conditions of sea warfare
due to the substitution of
steam for sails and the in-
vention of the torpedo and
the U-boat.

Almost immediately
upon entering the latter
half of their century, in

1870, Brooks Brothers
moved uptown from
Broadway and Grand
Street to South Union
Square. This was, how-
ever, only in the nature
of a temporary resting-
place, as they were await-

Hosiedny Google

ESTABLISHED iStS

Beooki Bbothuu' Stdm, 1874-34

On the nonhcast comer of Broadwajr and Bond Street, oppoure the

Broufway Central Hotel

ing the completion of new premise's, erected for them
on the northeast corner of Broadway and Bond Street,
to which they removed four years later. This year,
1874, saw the abandonment of the original location at
Catharine and Cherry Streets, which had been occupied
duringall of the previous fifty-six years of the business.
Again we depend upon a picture (page 34) to show
more easily and quickly than it could be described the
clothing of the seventies. This was a transition and
reconstruction period for all of the United States and
no less so for Brooks Brothers than for others.

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BROOKS BROTHERS

^1^

The Buck Horn Taviin
Broadway and Ilnd Street, iSiS

Tbe print! reproduced above give an idea of the appearance of the Madison

Square district at the time when Bsooks Brothib) was founded and again

at the lime of the removal from Catharine Street to Grand Street

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ESTABLISHED iSiS

The early years of the third quarter-century saw the
deaths of Elisha and Edward S. Brooks, and the ad-
mission to partnership of John E., son of John, and
Clarence, son of Elisha.

Daniel H. Brooks, last survivor of the sons of the
founder of the business, retired in January 1879, and
several of the former employees of the business be-
came associated as partners, the new firm consisting of
John E. and Clarence Brooks, Francis Wagner, Jarvis
Weed, Clark S. Hopps, Matthias S. Euen, Hiram S.
Armstrong and Francis G. Lloyd. Shortly after this
the firm cast its eyes farther uptown, following, as ever,
the march of first-class trade.

The southeast corner of Broadway and Twenty-
second Street, the site of the old Park Theatre, was
finally decided upon as a promising location, and in
1884, a year after the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge,
they moved to this then fashionable shopping district.
The well-known building, a picture of which is shown
on page 38, housed the business, after various enlarge-
ments, for thirty-two years — a generation — till again
the northward urge of business necessitated a re-
moval.

In 1889, Frederick Brooks, the youngest son of
John and second brother of John E,, was admitted
to partnership, and Matthias S. Euen retired, other
previous deaths and retirements leaving the new
partnership consisting of John E. Brooks, Francis
[S7]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Wagner, Francis G. Lloyd and Frederick Brooks.
Another three years saw the retirement of Francis
Wagner, while Walter Brooks, another son of John
and brother of John E and Frederict., entered the
hrm

Mr, John E. Brooks retired from the business in
1896, and in 1903 the co-partnership was changed
to a corporation with the following oiBcers and
directors :

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ESTABLISHED iSiS

Presidtnt .... Francis G. Lloyd
VUc-Prisident . . Frederick Brook*
Secretary .... Eugene E. Mapes

Treasurer Walter Brooks

Assistant Treasurer, Augustus M. Husted

Today Walter and Frederick Brooks, with the fol-
lowing officers, constitute the board of directors:
President .... Francis G. Llovd
Vice-President . . Eugene E. Mapes

Secretary Owen Winston

Treasurer .... William B. Hardin
Harold Brooks, son of Frederick Brooks, is a stock-
holder, and actively engaged in the business, thus rep-
resenting the fourth genera-
tion of the Brooks family,
father and son, directly pur-
suing the same career.

In 1909, during their
sojourn at Broadway and
Twenty-second Street, they
made the experiment of es-
tablishing sales-ofBces for
the convenience of their
customers at Newport, R. I.
This was a success and the
offices are open each year
during the "season," from
June to October.

IJ9I

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Btoori Beothes! Ne vpoet Sales OrHcts OrENZDigog
Audrain Building, uo Bellevue Avenue Newport R I

Liltlt Biuldlng, The Hotel Tourainc now occupies the comer ac the left

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ESTABLISHED iSi8

Ai

-111:

In 191 2 they also opened sales-offices in Boston,
at 149 Tremont Street; in April 1917 these offices
were removed to larger quarters on the second floor of
the new Little Building, opposite the Hotel Touraine,
on the corner of Tremont and Boylsion Streets,

It is characteristic of the establishment that, in the
selling and manufacturing departments, as well as in the
office, are a number of employees who have been in
the business for thirty years and more. One of the
salesmen has served five generations of a certain New
York family, having been with Brooks Brothers
more than fifty-five years.

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BROOKS BROTHERS

Several others have
been with the house
nearly as long and it is

part of the policy of the
business to retain them
so long as they feel in-
clined to serve.

Their present New
York location and new
building, completely
described in a booklet
published at the time
of their removal in the
summer of 1 9 1 5, would
seem likely to remain
suited to the requirements of the business for another
generation at least. To be sure, the outposts of the
retail district have already moved fanher northward,
but Brooks Brothers have ever been mindful of the
maxim,one which suits the conservative but not Inflex-
ible nature of their general policy; "Be not the first by
whom the new is tried noryet thelast to lay the oldaside."
The enduring facts of the situation of the Grand
Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad terminals,
Central Park, the New York Public Library and its
surrounding park, as well as other considerations,
seem to augur permanence for Brooks Brothers
at Madison Avenue and Forty-fourth Street.
[41]

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ESTABLISHED l!i!

NoithweiC ciHiKi: of Madiwui A
[4J]

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BROOKS BROTHERS

In any event, we hope that the business described
in the following quotation, written in the sixties and
reprinted with a pride which we trust may, in the cir-
cumstances, be pardoned, will continue for many years,
another century, perhaps : "i7 houie^ the memory of whose
probity and utility -wiU remain, long after the descendants
of its founders have passed beyond a world of toil."

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Tdephom Murray Bill SSoo

A complete Establishment

operated continuously

for One Hundred Yeats

under the same name

and still in the control of the

Direct Descendants of the Founder

tor the Outfitting

of Men and Boys from Head to Foot

with Garments and Accessories

tor Every Requirement of

Day or Evening Wear:

Dress, Business, Travel or Sport

Our lUuslrated Catalogue containing

more than One Hundred Photographic Plates

fwill be sent en Bluest

Uniforms and Useful Articles

of Personal Equipment

for Officers in the Service of

the United Sutes

in Camp, Afield or Afloat

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